


To Fold a Thousand Days

by Nanayon



Category: Kagerou Project, Mekakucity Actors
Genre: CW for mention of radioactivity effects, CW for mention of terminal illness, CW for mention of war, Gen, first person POV, not a shippy fic, post-STR
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-17
Updated: 2021-02-17
Packaged: 2021-03-11 23:33:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,554
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29500689
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nanayon/pseuds/Nanayon
Summary: Shintaro learns things about origami - and in the process, about Ayano as well.
Relationships: Kisaragi Shintaro & Snake of Retaining Eyes, Kisaragi Shintaro & Tateyama Ayano
Comments: 1
Kudos: 11





	To Fold a Thousand Days

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! This is my contribution for the celebration of Kagepro's 10th anniversary! It's nothing spetacular, just them having a casual friendship bonding incident. Which is honestly what they deserve after everything they went through in canon.  
> Hope you enjoy!

“...Hey, Ayano?”

“Yes?” She asked without taking her eyes away from the sheet of paper that she was turning into a paper crane, as usual of her.

“Why exactly do you like making these cranes so much?”

She freezes on spot, her face showing me that the question brought up thoughts she was not expecting to have. Not that I blame her. This was just meant to be a casual, friendly hangout in my house.

“W-Well… How curious. I’m not sure if you ever asked me that before, Shintaro-kun. Or anyone, really...”

_(Indeed you have not. Not in this world, at least, and I’m fairly certain that not ever.)_

“...I’m trying to innovate things a bit.” I reply a bit nonchalantly, not wanting to seem too pushy in regards to catching up on lost friendship time. “So?”

“A-Ah, right, you want an answer! Well, er, i-it’s kind of silly, really. I’m not sure if you’d want to hear it, hahahaha.”

“I’m not gonna laugh, if that’s what you’re afraid of.”

She blushes a bit at those words. A crooked smile spreads on her face.

“Thanks, Shintaro-kun… As I said, it’s rather simple. Like, I imagine that you have heard of the saying that, if one ever made a thousand cranes, they’d be granted a wish, right? My wish would be for everyone I love to be happy… But perhaps, rather than it being through a miraculous intervention by God, that’d instead be granted little by little as each crane was made and shared with others! Or… t-that’s the idea I had, haaaah.”

I nod to show that I’m following along. It’s an interesting idea, I’ve gotta say.

_(To be honest… it’s also a good way to occupy your mind and hands in general. Both the Ayanos from multiple worlds and I kept making cranes even during our ‘imprisonments’, after all. I’d guess that she had a similar reasoning to mine with that.)_

_(Occupy your mind… Yeah. Guess it could also be seen as a symbolic way of holding onto one’s hope of ‘happiness’, even if you aren’t really aware of it.)_

_(...That’s a nice way to put it.)_

I shrug my shoulders in response to Yaki, then look back at Ayano. “That saying… Did you know that the popularity of it actually has a relatively recent origin? It was something that I found at random when navigating through Wikipedia one day.”

“Really? I didn’t!”

“It’s a rather sad story. After World War II, there was this girl named Sadako Sasaki, who developed leukemia after being exposed to radiation from the atomic bomb that hit Hiroshima. She spent a long time in the hospital and, one day, decided to fold a thousand cranes so that she could be granted her wish of being healed. However, despite the fact that she managed to fold that many and more, she ended up dying a few months later from her disease…”

“I…... I s-see……”

“...Ayano? Are you-”

Wait, those- those are _tears_ in her eyes?!

“A-Ah, sorry, S-Shintaro-kun! It’s just, uh…”

I noticed that she was trying to look away, so I extended my hand towards hers.

“You don’t have to be sorry towards me for showing me negative feelings, ok? I-I mean, you endured my depressed jerk self for _years_ , it’s the least I could do!”

And she still kinda does sometimes. Being a sourpuss is too ingrained in my nature for me to have fully shed it yet.

“...That story.” She finally said after getting back to face me, even if she was looking down. “It reminded me of Haruka-senpai.”

……………...Ah. I see what she means.

_(There was, in fact, a life where you, Takane and Ayano worked together trying to make paper cranes as a way to wish for Haruka’s good health. You remember that, don’t you, Shintaro?)_

Of course I do. Not like I can forget it when you make me remember.

“S-Shintaro-kun, your eyes…!”

“Y-Yeah, sorry. T-That comment brought back some memories-”

“Not just that! Is- is it too sad?”

What- oh. _Now I’m the one crying as well…_

“I-It’s nothing…” I say while trying to wipe my tears.

That doesn’t seem to have been enough to make Ayano feel better, though, judging by the sad smile she gives me. “...Happiness is truly a hard thing to wish for, isn’t it? Perhaps it was just a childish thought to believe that little cranes like these could really make a difference.”

Wait a second… Oh, hell no! I won’t let my blunder from earlier bring her down! This was meant to be a fun, friendly meeting, after all!

In a swift move, I bring her hands close to my chest, which makes Ayano look perplexed while blushing slightly. I’m probably blushing as well, but this is more important, damnit!

“S-Shintaro-kun? What-”

“D-Don’t begin saying that your cranes are pointless, you hear me, Ayano?! If m-maybe you are tired of these specifically, we could, er… Make other origami, maybe!”

=“...Eh? L-Like what?”

“Like, uh… Maybe a frog? Or a rat! O-Or even something like that big ass dragon!!”

Ayano stared at me while showing a mix of emotions in her face that I’m sure I’d only get the meaning of if she used Favoring Eyes on me. “Frogs… are nice. If you fold one well enough, you can even make them jump! B-But… do you even know how to fold origami, Shintaro-kun?”

“......Uh.” Fuck. That is what happens when I don’t plan before talking, huh? I look to my side in shame. “N-Not really… BUT! I-I guess I could learn, right?!”

By now, her expression seems to have soothed a bit. I think there is even the start of a sincere smile on her face. That’s good. “Yeah! I could learn as well! I only know how to fold cranes and frogs, if I’m being honest. Hahahaha…”

“So, uh… It’s a plan!” I blurt out. “Next time we meet, we could, er, make different origami together!”

“Hehehe… I’m looking forward to that.”

* * *

_(You know, I wasn’t expecting you to get the idea to learn how to make origami figures out of the blue just to improve the mood of that conversation, but… isn’t this a bit excessive?)_

Yaki said so in response to the several paper sheets that I had spread around me, most of which contain folding patterns that I had painstakingly traced with a pencil after finding them from online sources. Each of them serve as the basis for an individual origami figure.

“I said I was going to learn how to make origami, and I intend to follow on that promise. Besides, I ended up learning some very interesting stuff regarding the mathematics behind this practice, which I found fascinating.”

Who could imagine that there’s so much technicality behind even the simplest of paper cranes? Each of the vertices that you create when folding must follow principles regarding the number of ‘mountain’ and ‘valley’ flaps, the sum of angles and other details that guarantee an optimized fold! These principles are even applied to high technology devices, such as artery stents or spacecraft pieces!

_(Yeah, yeah, I’ve read all of that alongside you, Shintaro. But you have been at this for FIVE HOURS STRAIGHT, EVERY DAY FOR THE PAST WEEK. Isn’t this overkill?!)_

“I have to get good at this!! It’s worthless to memorize all the patterns if, at the actual folding time, I fuck the paper up! You saw how many tries it took me to perfect the frog!”

_“Onii-chan, are you alright? Is Ene-chan bothering you on a game again?”_

Oh, crap. I’ve gotten so loud that Momo heard me. I don’t need that level of embarrassment right now… Hang on. No, this might be good, actually!

I proceed to open the door in a swift motion and pull up the best smile I can, considering my face. Momo was clearly not expecting this, judging by hers.

“E-Eh? What-”

“Momoooo! What perfect timing for you to check on me~!”

“...You’re creeping me out, Onii-chan. What’s this about?”

“Ack!”

Those words make me visibly flinch. It’s really that abnormal for me to show that much cheerfulness, huh?

“Aaaaaaah, n-nothing too scary, p-promise!!” Uuuuugh, I can feel myself dying right now. “I-It’s just that, uh…”

Momo doesn’t seem to be very patient with me, as she quickly gets to look to my side to see the mess in my bedroom. “What the-? Onii-chan, are you making origami sculptures?”

“Y-Yes! But you shouldn’t invade my privacy like that!!”

I’m figuratively crawling on the floor right now. Why can’t it just open and swallow me? Why did I think that bringing her into this was a good idea?!

_(You called for Momo, Shintaro. Now actually talk to her.)_

“ANYWAY!” I shout to turn this conversation back to where I wanted it to go. “I-I was thinking, could you… see if they don’t suck?”

“................”

At that, Momo puts a hand over my forehead. “Doesn’t seem like you are feverish.” She says, before sighing. “Honestly, Onii-chan, you keep finding ways to catch me off guard recently. Alright, lemme see what you got.”

With a bashful demeanor, I point out the sculptures I’ve made so far to her. Momo looks around, until a particular one catches her attention.

“Whoa, is this- is this a peach?!”

“Hehehe, I-I guess. It was a simple concept I found online, so I found it worthy to try it for practice.”

“Awwwww, it’s cute! And of course, it matches me as well~.”

_(Which you were well aware of when you picked that one to make, hehehe~.)_

_(S-Shut up!)_

“Onii-chan, can I have this one, please please pretty pleaaaaase?”

“Uh… Suuuure? I don’t see why n- URK!!”

“Aaaaah, thank you, thank you, thank you! I’ll treasure it a lot!!”

And so Momo leaves my bedroom while taking the paper peach with her, and I’m left standing dumbfounded in front of my bedroom. ...Eventually, I look behind me and see the piles of sheets, crumbled paper and several sculptures spread around.

“......I should probably get this cleaned up before mom sees it, huh?”

* * *

It’s been about a week since Ayano visited my place, and today I’m returning it by going to her house. I’ve brought my guitar with me in case she feels like hearing me play, but that’s not really what I’m the most concerned about today.

It’s really a shame that you can’t exactly carry a bunch of origami sculptures in a bag, or something. They’d get all crumpled and ugly, and doing that would only paint me as a sore loser who doesn’t really care about this craft the way that Ayano does. That’d be very inconsiderate, right?

I scratch my head in frustration. Figuring stuff out in the emotional intelligence field is such a bother…

After knocking on her door, Ayano quickly greets me with a smile on her face, as usual.

“Shintaro-kun! I’m so glad you came today! I’ve prepared some cookies for us to eat.”

“Oh, that’s nice.” I nod. “But I’m not that hungry right now. We could eat some later, after we’ve practiced some origami.”

“What…?” Ayano tilts her head to the side, as it takes a while for her to understand where my comment came from. I can see the realization sparkling in her eyes once she recalls our last meeting.

“Wow, y-you really meant it back then?! I have to admit, I had all but forgotten about it by now. Haaaaah…”

...I can’t avoid but sigh at that. All of that effort I did into studying origami, and the person I did it for doesn’t even remember it. Can’t really say that I’m surprised about that either, this being Ayano.

Ayano turns her gaze down. “S-Sorry, Shintaro-kun. I guess that you might be disappointed with me…”

I poke her cheek with a finger. “Don’t say such dumb things. Now let’s get to it.”

_(That wasn’t exactly the most tactful response, you know?)_

_(And yet, it made her smile, so I think that she got what I meant. You know I’m not comfortable with articulating things in super sweet ways. I’m not Ayano.)_

_(...Heh. I’d say that I could try rubbing off a bit more on you, but I’m not sure if I’m ‘Ayano’ enough to change that about you.)_

“Is the ‘other me’ teasing you about something, Shintaro-kun? You got quiet all of a sudden.”

“A-Aaaaah!! N-Nothing that you need to know!!”

Damnit, why am I this obvious whenever I’m mentally talking to Yaki? Now both of them are giggling at me! Gaaaaaah!!

“Awwww, it’s alright, Shintaro-kun! So, let’s get to it?”

“R-Right, right! Uh, table! We- we need a table, of course!”

Ayano takes me to the kitchen, whose table I clean out of stuff so that there is space for sheets of paper and soon to be completed sculptures.

“Hm, so what should we start with?”

“Perhaps a rat? Lemme sketch down the base for that.”

“The base?”

“Yeah, you see, every origami sculpture can be represented by a base pattern, which indicates where the folds are meant to go. Each of these has to follow specific rules dictated by math to be properly foldable, and…”

I went on talking about stuff like vertices and angles and sums, all while reproducing the schematics for a rat origami on the sheet of paper before me. Once I’m done with that, I turned to look at Ayano.

“You following so far-”

Only to realize… that she has a half finished rat sculpture in her hands already, only missing the detailing of the ears and tail.

“...H-How?”

“Eh? Who do you mean?”

“I-It took me _hours_ to get a decent looking rat and you are there, pulling it off on the first try before I even finished explaining the folds? How did you manage to do that?!”

“Hmmmmm, I… I dunno? Truth be told, I a-actually got lost in your explanation halfway through.”

“...What?”

“So instead, I just started thinking of how you should fold paper to make a rat appear! I had some ideas based on the cranes I always do, and from there I… guess I planned out how to pull off a rat?”

…...Unbelievable. So Ayano is basically telling me that she can learn how to do origami by pure intuition faster than I could following active studying of the subject?!

_(Hehehe. Looks like ‘I’ have always been a better ‘on the go’ learner, after all.)_

_(...You were expecting this outcome, weren’t you?)_

Yaki shrugs. _(Perhaps I AM still ‘Ayano’ enough to know her, after all~.)_

“Is anything wrong, Shintaro-kun? You look a bit disheartened.”

I look at her… and then smile. “You are really amazing, Ayano. I should say that more often.”

“A-Ah? Hahahahaha, t-thank you, Shintaro-kun!”

The two of us end up laughing some more, before we get to doing some more origami together. Both Ayano and Yaki were right. This is a good way to occupy your hands and mind in a more productive way than dwelling in stupid stuff like self-pity or whatnot. It makes me feel warm in a good way.

...I wonder if any other origami could serve for the ‘thousand cranes’ myth. If I could make sure that this sort of uneventful happiness could last forever, I wouldn’t mind spending time and effort folding some more.


End file.
